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THE PARIS GLOVE STORE 

S. W. LAIRD & CO 



390 MAIN STREET 
BUFFALO 



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Co/irr/o/i/,;/ ,ggj^ 

OTIS U. KEAN & Co.. 

Compilers and Publishers 

Advertising Literature. 

Buffalo. N. V. 




1[ntro&uctor\?. 

In presenting our Brochure on fall and 
winter gloves, it occurred to us that a few facts 
bearing upon the historical phase of the subject 
would not be amiss, and, though necessarily 
brief, we trust may prove interesting to our 
readers. 

Our display of gloves for the present season 
shows the same characteristic excellence which 
has always been our aim, and a range of style 
and variety calculated to meet the requirements 
of the most exacting buyer. 

We feel that in point of prices there is no 
need to make mention, since a liberal patronage 
is the truest indication of our policy in this 
regard, and we can promise in the future the 
same "sterling worth" we have given in the 
past. 

Attention is also called to our corset depart- 
ment, in the belief, that for the lady who has 
not yet worn the Fascia Corset there awaits a 
real revelation, the extent of which she can 
appreciate, onlj' when once encircled by the 
graceful curves of this. The Oueen of all corsets. 




Cbe JBirtb of the ©love. 



" "Cis as H sboulJ entreat 
vou, wear vour iilovc." 

-Otbello. 



The first pair of gloves of which we have any record 
was the covering of skins which Jacob wore upon his 
hands to deceive his blind father, and it is a singular 
fact, that these hand-coverings, then used for deception 
and treachery, came in time to be a pledge of faith, a 
token of fidelity all over the world. The glove is unique 
in its universal use to symbolize good faith, from the 
Oriental custom of giving the purchaser a glove at the 
transfer of property, to its use as a love favor and a 
challenge. 

Some authorities say that the use of gloves as a pro- 
tection to the hands was known to the cave-dwellers. 
However this may be, it certainly was to the Romans 
and Greeks. 

In the Norman period we find gloves worn only by 
men, and even then they were considered the append- 
ages of the rich and great. They were an important 
factor on all ceremonial occasions, and were conse- 
quently very ornate and of rare material and workman- 
ship, and many of them decorated with precious .stones. 
The gloves of bishops were of silk and linen, richlj- 
embroidered, and those of monarchs were white with 
broad, pointed cufT. The presentation of the royal 
gloves at the coronation ceremony is a custom which 
still prevails, for in the records of Victoria's coronation 
is the Duke of Norfolk's petition to present the Queen's 
coronation gloves. 

While we of to-day use gloves only as a protection 

and an ornament, in the intervening centuries they had 

a significance aside from this. Churchmen wore gloves 

as a sign of purity ; judges, as a token of the integrity of 

their office ; men pledged their honor by their gloves ; 

and perhaps we may be pardoned for 

saying that this custom still survives with 

us, since our gloves are sold "on honor." 






B ■Waalhing 
©love. 

Two-Clasp Pique (il;i 
Two-Toned Stitchint; 
Si.oo to Sq.oo. 




:-"-S. 




©cntlcman's "CClalfting 
(Blovc. 

English Cape Leather, 
i)ne Clasp at the Wrist, 
Oak Tan and Red Shades 
are correct. 
Ji.oo to $2.25. 




' f! 



Enylisb Cape Icatbcr 
IRiMncj ant> (loacbinci (Blove. 

In Havana-Browns and Red Sli. 
$l.oo to $2.00, 



®l& IRo^al ©loves. 




SoiTie of the gloves worn by royal personages still 
exist. We illustrate a glove worn by England's maiden 
queen, Elizabeth, and a very ornate affair it is — of fine 
white leather, profusely embroidered in gold thread, 
and having a yellow fringe and lined with drab silk. 
Elizabeth's hands were very beautiful, we are told, 
the charm of which she was wont to display by the 
repeated removal of her gloves. DuMaurier writes how 
he had heard from his father "that, having been sent to 
her, at every audience he had with her majesty, she 
pulled off her gloves more than a hundred times to 
display her hands, which, indeed, were very beautiful 
and very white." Either the royal hands were a deal 
larger than a lady of our time would care to possess, or 
they knew not in those days the grace of our perfect- 
fitting gloves, for those of Elizabeth's are as much as 
three and one-half inches across the palm, and have a 
thumb five inches in length, the entire glove being about 
a half-yard. 

We are told that gloves were not adopted by the 

gentler sex as a class until after the Reformation. But 

when once the fashion had taken hold of the feminine 

mind, they made up by lavish ornamentation what they 

had lost in time. Gloves of fine leather, with great 

cuflfs elaborately' ornamented with exquisite embroidery 

in rich and delicate silks, wrought with mar\'elous 

ingenuity and skill, now became a veritable mania. 

Lace-trimmed gloves were also worn ; and 

a language of the glove arose, so that a 

secret correspondence could be carried on 

by certain knottings of the fringe. 

Whatever may be said of the gloves of 
the past, they are at least picturesque and 
interesting, as well as varied in style. 








m 



B Xibcatrc an^ 
IReccption ©love. 

Hour-Button, White or Cream Glace. 
Broad Stitching- of Black or Self-Color. 

$I.OO, $T.25. $1.50, 51.75. 52.00. 




iPerfiimeO ©loves. 



" ©loves as sweet as 
^ama8l3 roses." 
-Shakespeare. 

Thus did the peddler advertise his wares in 
the days of good Queen Bess. While perfumed 
gloves were used in both France and Spain 
prior to this time, it was the evident partiality 
of her dress-loving majesty that brought about a veri- 
table perfume craze. Housewives became learned in 
the distillation of sweet waters, and the preparation of 
all mannerof sweet-smelling essences. Ladies vied with 
each other in a lavish employment of scent. "All ap- 
parel was perfumed ; hair and shoes and fans gave out 
sweet-smelling savor, and all kinds of jewelry contained 
cavities filled with strong essences. Perfumed gloves 
were not the least conspicuous of these toilet accessories." 
The ordinary method of perfuming the glove was to 
mix the substance or odor with oil, and rub it into the 
glove, or else to prepare a pomatum and smear it over 
the inner surface of the glove. Spain had now become 
famous for her embroidered and perfumed gloves, and 
thus the preference was shown for those of Spanish 
make, the fragrance of which was of a very enduring 
character. 

This love of luxury andultra-refinement now reached 
an extreme pitch. As .Shakespeare says: " The very 
winds were love-jsick with perfume." Into their bath 
the fair ladies threw musk, amber, aloes, myrrh, cedar 
leaves, lavender, mint, and other fragrant herbs and 
spices — everything was made to give forth an aromatic 
fragrance — an unbridled luxury that bid fair 
to outdo the fair dames of Rome. 

The use of perfumed gloves has never wholly 
died out. In Prance, and even in America, 
Russia leather gloves are worn to this day, for 
the sake of their aromatic tpialitj'. 






B Semi=®rcs0 

(Slovc. 

Two-Clasp or Four-Butto 
Suede or Glace Kid. 

$1.00 to $2.00. 



Somctbing about ©auntlets. 




The use of the glove as a challenge, carries us back 
to the chivalrous days of the armoured knights and 
ladies fair : the blare of trumpets, the neighing of steeds, 
the ring of steel as the gauntlet is flung into the lists, 
and the hush as it is taken up ; the lance in rest, the 
clash of conflict — all, happily, but the romantic picture 
of the past. 

The use of the glove as a gage is very ancient, and 
it involved the very highest point of honor. 

Besides its use in the courts of chivalrj', the glove 
was used in appeals of felony, and in civil disputes as 
to property. If a man accused of crime took his 
accuser's glove on the point of his svirord, and in the 
ensuing combat came out victoriou.s, it vv^as considered 
sufficient proof of his innocence. The same was true as 
to disputed ownership of land. 

When the .sovereign of England was crowned, it was 
cu.stomary for a knight to appear as champion, casting 
down the gauntlet, and challenging to mortal combat 
any who dared gainsay the monarch's right. This 
ceremony was in use for the last time at the coronation 
of George IV. 

When two knights rode together in combat, it would 
often happen that one wore in his helmet a dainty glove, 
a glove far different indeed from the steel one he had so 
recently taken up, the favor of some fair ladj- of his 
love, who was perhaps looking down upon him then. 
Thus he was for a second time bound to quit himself 
valiantly by the same token of a glove; a slight thing 
enough, but one which has ever been bound up with 
ideas of honor and deeds of knightlv valor. 




c*/ *^=*^^' 



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B ifullsKiegs 

(Slove. 

$1.50 to $4.00. 




Some IbiBtorical 
(3lov>cs. 



Among others of the gloves that remain 
from those old days, is a well-worn pair made 
of substantial leather, stitched with red and 
gold, and with a border pinked in the wrist. 
\'ery unpretentious, indeed, beside the hand- 
coverings of kings and queens and gilded 
nobles ; yet their ver^- wrinkles mean more 
to the world than the whole of that gaudy lot ; for 
if tradition does not misinform us, these gloves 
were worn by England's greatest son, Shakes- 
peare. What a world of meaning that phra.se 
attaches to these bits of leather, still bearing the 
imprint of the hand that penned the masterpieces of 
our literature. 

We are reminded that the bard's father was a 
glover by trade, and we of to-day certainly have cause 
to rejoice that the son was not enamored of his father's 
following, for who knows but that the hand that .startled 
the world by its touch might only have plied a modest 
craft. 

Whatever may have been the shortcomings of the 
gloves of those days, certain it is there could be no com- 
plaint as to variety. Old records speak of "single 
gloves and gloves lin'd, top'd, lac'd, fringed with gold, 
silver, silk, and fur, and gloves of velvet, satin, and 
taffety." 

The practice of wearing gloves at night to impart 
delicacy to the skin was common, in the seventeenth 
century, to gentlemen as well as ladies. To even 
greater lengths did the fairer sex go towai ds beautifying 
their complexion. It was not uncommon to wear gloves 
lined with unguents, or to cover the face with a mask 
plastered inside with a perfumed pomade. Some steeped 
slices of raw veal in milk and laid them on the face. 
" Young and tender beauties bathed in milk ; beauties 
who were no longer young, and far from tender, bathed 
in wine or the like." Gloves of chicken skin were 
thought to have peculiar virtue, and were worn at night 
to make the hands .soft and white. They were so fine in 
texture that they could be packed in a nut-shell, and were 
prized by cavaliers as dainty gifts for their lady-loves. 





When we introduced the I'ascia Corset to 
the ladies of Buffalo, some three years since, it 
was in direct competition with all the most 
widely known makes. We were confident that 
the Fascia was superior to any of these, and 
that an article of such unqualified merit must 
eventually win the place it so markedly de- 
served. 

The constant increase in the demand for 
Fascia Corsets shows conclusively in what 
regard they are now held by the ladies of 
Buffalo. 

The Fascia is a Parisian-made corset, molded 
upon the forms of living models ; thus, in the 
graceful flow of its lines, it reflects nature's 
own handiwork. It is made up in French Cou- 
tille, French Zanilla, and Figured Italian Cloth, 
making a durable as well as a beautiful corset. 
The whole corset is carefully and thoroughly 
made, and only the ver}- finest quality of 
Greenland Whalebone is used in its manufac- 
ture. 

In short, it is the crowning masterpiece of 
the corset-maker's art. Attention is called to 
the accompanying illustrations, which suggest 
some of our latest models. 




36(acf? an^ "CUbite $5.00 jfaacia. 

JSlacI; an^ XlUbitc $10.00 jfascia. 





TlUbitc jfascia, $7.50. 

36lacft jfascia, $8.00. 



021 534 342 ft 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 534 342 A 



